


Chess Club the Burgundian Way

by etothey



Category: Nibelungenlied
Genre: Alternate Universe - Chess Club, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bongcloud Variation, Chess, Gen, Gunther sucks at chess, Hagen does not approve of the French Defense, canon-typical displays of übermuot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28758636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etothey/pseuds/etothey
Summary: Hagen von Tronje finally finds a chess opponent worthy of him.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Chess Club the Burgundian Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EllerWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllerWrites/gifts).



Hagen von Tronje was the first to show up at the Burgundian Library chess club. This wasn't surprising. Hagen believed in preparatory scouting. He always chose the very best seat for himself, so that the sun from the window would shine full in the face of his opponent. He'd also taken the precaution of replacing the opponent's chair with a rickety one from the back room, liable to collapse if the match became the slightest bit frisky, with a bonus couple of thumbtacks on the seat if he was stupid enough to sit down without checking first. Games often devolved into fistfights over such shenanigans, despite the librarians' best efforts; he rather liked it that way.

Today, however, Hagen was bored. He'd set up his favorite chess set, of palest boxwood and deepest ebony. Red gold embellished the queens and kings. A perfect invitation to play--if only he'd had an opponent.

He'd hoped that his rich friend Gunther would show up, but Gunther had recently discovered that some of the people on the internet claiming to be girls might actually _be_ girls, so he kept skipping chess club in favor of internet speed-dating. Not that Gunther was any good at chess, but Hagen could at least amuse himself playing the most reckless moves and seeing if Gunther would punish him for them. (He never did.) Hagen had once won a game by galloping a knight from b1 to d2 to f1 to e3 to c2 to a1 to b3 to to a5 to c6 to e5 to g4 to h6 to g8. It had been _glorious_. What were knights _for_ if not galloping??

The minutes ticked by. No one showed up. Perhaps that wasn't entirely surprising. He'd driven the other players off, often by defeating them in embarrassing fashion--the joke around the library was that Hagen's glare was enough to get any ordinary guy to blunder his queen. One dude had accused Hagen of _cheating_ by nudging his rook to a different square. Which he had been, of course, but the accusation couldn't be allowed to stand. Hagen had settled the matter by removing his rook entirely and checkmating the dude's ass in the next five turns anyway. _That_ fellow had never returned, either.

Hagen had pulled out a book of medieval poetry when he heard...music?

The librarian at the desk looked up, opened his mouth, closed it. The newcomer was a dashing young man with an iPhone blasting electric violin music. "Yo," he said to the librarian. "Where's the chess club?" As he said this, he stared insolently at Hagen and his fine wooden chess set, already arrayed for battle, as though they weren't there.

"Right there," said the librarian, pointing at Hagen's table. "Uh, you're in time for a match," he added with forced cheer. "If you could turn the music down...?"

Hagen shook his head. Even the librarians were weak in Burgundy. It couldn't be helped, though, and it did have _some_ advantages. After all, he'd bullied the librarians into letting him run the chess club however he liked. In any case, the music was harsh, melodious, and strangely pleasing, all at once.

"Your name?" he asked as the other man swaggered up to the table. "I'm Hagen von Tronje."

"Volker von Alzey," came the reply. Volker checked his seat over and picked up the two thumbtacks, setting them on the edge of the table with a clink without comment.

Hagen raised his eyebrows. Perhaps this would be a worthy opponent after all. "I play white," he said. It would be a change of pace. Ordinarily Gunther insisted on playing white, not that first move advantage did him any good.

"Fine by me," Volker said. He tested the chair. "This one's not structurally sound," he complained over the double-stops wailing from the iPhone. "Let me fetch another."

Foiled twice. This n00b _definitely_ had Hagen's attention now. The question was, could he play the game of kings with any skill? He watched impassively as Volker grabbed a chair from next to one of the meek hangers-on at the library, kicked its legs for good measure, and, having satisfied himself as to its soundness, dragged it over to the table.

At least Volker hadn't yet noticed the matter of the window across from him. Hagen didn't know whether his opponent was a fast thinker or a slow one, of course. Normally the sun would strike the opponent's eyes about half an hour into the game, and make a nuisance of itself thereafter.

"I'm ready," Volker announced without turning off the music. The electric violin was now playing a dazzling array of sixteenth notes, occasionally ornamented. The unknown fiddler must be a true virtuoso, and Hagen resolved to ask about the music--after the match.

Hagen opened with his favorite, 1. e4. Volker's response was a bog-standard e5. Basic competence, at the very least. (Hagen had mostly broken Gunther of terrible openings like the Barnes Opening or Grob's Attack, but even on the occasions that Gunther took black, he still occasionally played lame-ass replies like 1...b5 or 1...f5. Some people just couldn't be helped.)

 _All right,_ Hagen thought. _Time to make this interesting._ He moved his king to e2.

Volker's eyebrows flew up. "The Bongcloud Variation? Really?"

Hagen merely leaned back and smirked. Was Volker going to take offense at this clear declaration of contempt? Even if Hagen didn't get a game of chess out of this, a fight was almost as good a way to spend the afternoon.

Instead, Volker's face broke out into a delighted grin. "Challenge accepted, my friend. You'll live to regret that." He followed up with an eminently sensible 2...Nf6.

The next several moves were devoted to reasonable development on both sides. Well, as much as one could get after playing the Bongcloud. Hagen knew he had no margin for error, and Volker's position looked very solid indeed. Volker, emboldened by the fact that Hagen could not castle, castled queenside himself and continued marshaling a grand army commanding the center.

"You're not bad at this," Hagen allowed. He wasn't worried yet--he had more tricks in store--but he had to admit, it was so much better playing a _real_ opponent as opposed to hapless Gunther. Or worse, Gunther's sister, who at least was _great_ at chess, but had an unholy fondness for the Frankish Defense. Hagen hated the Frankish almost as much as he despised incompetence.

Then Volker played 13...Nf5. Hagen saw the threat immediately. If that knight made it to g2...

Hagen counterattacked on the other side of the board, then moved his bishop to f1 to protect the vulnerable square. Volker returned Hagen's thoughtful look with a carefree grin and carried out a pawn capture that opened the d-file, responding to Hagen's recapture with 17...f5.

 _You shouldn't take victory for granted,_ Hagen thought, not sure whether he was addressing himself or Volker. He was well aware of the danger of his situation. In truth, it made his blood sing. He never felt so alive as when he was in a fight. No time for passive pussyfooting around; he continued an attack on the left flank with 18. c5.

A rapid flurry of exchanges followed. Hagen began to sweat. No margin for error, no margin for error, and that black queen lurking on d7 was just waiting to swoop in and menace his exposed king on e1. Hostile queens were nothing but trouble, no doubt about it. Still, there was always the chance that his opponent would grow overconfident, and Hagen wasn't one to offer a draw, or worse, resign. By now he had lost awareness of the electric violin's Lorelei wail entirely, although he would hear it again in days to come.

Hagen allowed himself a grim smile as his queen destroyed the black bishop on h6. Volker responded with 26. Rxe5+, but Hagen had a ready response to that, capturing the offending piece with his bishop on b2. Volker gamely continued the assault by taking with his queen in turn, but the tide had turned, and the initiative had passed to Hagen.

"You know," Volker said," looking at the white queen that had just checked his king by stepping to d8, "when I heard about you, I thought it was all bluster. But this--this is a _real_ fight." He was grinning delightedly, as though he weren't in grave danger.

Hagen approved of his opponent's attitude. So much better than Gunther's sulking whenever he lost a game. At least Gunther never stayed mad for long, or Hagen would have run out of opponents even faster. But this--this was so much better.

Volker wasn't done fighting. He checked again with his queen on d1, but Hagen's queen, covered by the e3 rook, made for a ready defender. Rooks and queens danced across the board, broken only by Hagen retreating his knight to f1 to avoid the threat of a perpetual check.

 _I have you now,_ Hagen thought in triumph: both rooks and the queen on the c-file. Volker struggled valiantly, checking him again, but to no avail. Hagen finally allowed himself to bare his teeth at the other man as he insolently took the black bishop with his king.

Just then, the sun rose to the necessary angle and Volker blinked as its light blinded him. He shifted his seat sideways and tipped the black king over. The music had quieted to an eerie dirge-like sighing.

Volker rose, still avoiding the sunlight that backlit Hagen, and offered Hagen his hand. "I can't grudge you such a masterful victory," he said, his eyes alight. "I hope there will be many more matches."

Hagen shook his hand firmly. "You acquitted yourself well," he said. "We must play again, you and I."

"You'll have a hard time getting rid of me," Volker declared.

Hagen couldn't have been happier, for he had no doubt that Volker would keep his word. "I'll hold you to that," he said.

**Author's Note:**

> The knight's journey mentioned in the game against Gunther is drawn from Tal - Hjartason, 1987:
> 
> https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1140914
> 
> The game between Hagen and Volker is modeled after Nakamura - Xiong, St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, 2020. I referenced
> 
> https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2010678
> 
> and
> 
> notmtwain's commentary on chess.com here:
> 
> https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/gm-hikaru-plays-the-bongcloud-in-professional-tournament
> 
> Any infelicities or errors in the descriptions/analysis are, of course, my own.


End file.
